Suit Alleging Rights Abuses Is Tossed Out

A federal judge tossed out a lawsuit alleging civil rights abuses brought against Ventura County by a Casitas Springs man who was wrongly arrested and jailed last year as the Ojai rapist.

Jason Edward Hawthorne, 23, had filed the complaint alleging that several top-ranking Ventura County officials falsely arrested, falsely imprisoned and slandered him.

Hawthorne was arrested Jan. 14, 1995, and charged with the sexual assault and rapes of four Ojai women. The string of sexual assaults terrified the Ojai Valley for most of 1994.

But authorities released Hawthorne a week after his arrest, saying they had the wrong man. Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury issued a public apology shortly afterward.

Last week, U. S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson ruled that investigators had a reasonable belief at the time that Hawthorne was their man. One of the rape victims picked him out of a photo lineup and Hawthorne’s blood samples did not immediately rule him out as the rapist.

Only after more time-consuming DNA tests were conducted on Hawthorne’s blood was he cleared of any wrongdoing. Kevin Malone, a 36-year-old construction worker, was later convicted of the rapes.

“They arrested Mr. Hawthorne based on the facts they knew at the time,” attorney Alan Wisotsky said.

Hawthorne’s attorney, David Shain, said he has not decided if he will appeal the ruling.

Shain can also file a similar suit in state court.